Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - When Money Is Worth More Than Life Itself

Chapter 11

Azazel and Taeger are still going at it, but the Demon Lord has a way to take him out of the picture...at least, for now as he may not care much about the Summit, but it should be over before Taeger can recover from this.

Azazel had felt when Bane had willfully triggered his darker side against Zaraki, but couldn't sense him for a while afterward as he looked in the particular direction of where Bane was

"How...concerning..." Azazel says "it seems I don't need to kill you, but I will take a certain something from you that is of some importance...the very reason those Kurosaki savages even tolerate your existence"

"What're ya yammerin' about now?" Taeger was not happy as he attacks, but misses the much more agile Demon Lord as, for a fraction of a second, Azazel smiled replying "Oh, that isn't something you need to concern yourself with now..."

Azazel moved so fast around Taeger that it looked like he was surrounded, but he could tell Azazel wasn't teleporting and that he was up to something as he swung at Azazel, but found that it was only an after-image and again, but the same result as before

"This is over..." he decides to channel lightning to dance around, but before he could, Azazel sees his chance to strike as he felt the Demon Lord's tail go in through his back and out his chest as he got what he wanted, a necklace that was a Demon treasure made of a sort of inert Demonite (that was stripped of the ability to harm Ghouls somehow) and real, almost completely pure gold that Taeger had on him at all times

"Fool...this is what I've been after, not you exactly" Azazel said "you wanted my tail...you got it, now die in utter chaos"

Azazel teleport away unsurprisingly before Taeger's body even hits the ground, his eyes were white and he seemed to be dying, but while he wasn't obsessed with being the last Ghoul alive like Kami, he still had absolutely no interest in dying "Demon...Lord, you'll...never...extinguish my...l-light"


Back with Bane, he has yet to be persuaded to drink by Dartz and was surprised that the Pirate hadn't held him down and forced an alcoholic beverage down his throat...he shouldn't talk so soon though as he still wasn't able to predict Dartz at all...unless Dartz wanted him to, of course

"Oy, relax a bit and drink...yer far too tense" Dartz said extending his hand with a strange and undeniably very strong drink in a glass to Bane with a smirk "I'll get that Zaraki back soon enough...why didn't ya go so feral against me though, I wonder?"

"I dunno...that man has some kind of effect on me, he almost made me want to go with him" Bane said "even if only to rip his throat out..."

"Hey, take the damn drink already" Dartz almost ordered as his hand hadn't moved from offering alcohol to him.

"Dartz-san, no..." Bane said as Baccus chuckled "he seems scared o' a little piss an' vinegar, I see"

Dartz stood and locked eyes with his captain, now holding the drink tight enough to almost break the glass as he passed a finger from his free hand over his scar and licked his lips as he grabbed Bane's head "C'mon, mate...don't force me to get my hands this dirty again"

He grabbed a larger glass an filled it to the brim as he cheered "Down the hatchet, matey!" Bane, however, now refused to dare to open his mouth as he warned "open it or I'll pour it up yer nostrils, yer considered a man now as far as I'm concerned" he put just one drip down his nose to make his threat clear and it felt like he poured molten Iron down his nostrils because of how hot it is even after being off the heat for two days

Bane then noticed what they were drinking wasn't the standard strong whisky that even humans drank but far stronger and heated like tea which definitely didn't diminish the purity of the alcohol, almost like Moonshine which wasn't very legal, much less easy to ascertain and ship while staying alive in the attempt

Bane had also figured that Dartz was also as dead serious as he was dreadfully sincere, he wasn't making some empty threat and has never told Bane he would do anything that he did not do as Dartz snarled "Open it!" As he stomps Bane's foot hard with his much larger size 16's and poured the liquid in it's entirety down his throat while holding his nose then forcing him to swallow by forcing just enough Wind Magic in to push the liquid down without making him choke as he freed him and he stumbled back and everyone sensed the same power Dartz felt when Bane snapped against Zaraki, Dartz was mildly surprised that he could even stand at the moment

"Are you trying to kill me or something, what the hell was that hot stuff?!" Bane demanded with a hiccup as Dartz showed one of the several now empty bottles and Bane saw that it was some Chinese stuff, despite it origin most likely being Russia and gave a overjoyed smile with his eyes closed "Pure Black Absinthe, I find any missin' from my stash an' you'll be sorry, mate...but it says there's Licorice in it an' almost as much Ginger as there's alcohol...the pure stuff, not some crap that couldn't even barely pass fer beer here"

Bane coughed "If I find it, I won't be drinking it...I wouldn't feed that to a dead person!" Bane said in disgust as Dartz added "it seems yer of drinking age, bein' at least 18 now but not experienced enough for this or the impossible amount o' other variants."

Suddenly, the dogs outside began barking and going crazy...Why? Azazel had just teleported in and need to hide the item he just took from Taeger before he comes looking for it, which wouldn't take very long with his healing factor being faster than Kami's and that he was a Binge Eater with a ridiculous appetite and macabre menu that would make even other hardened Binge Eater's cringe

Azazel teleported over a great distance to Bane's house where he was mildly surprised to see Akamaru and the other dogs, just like Kuro could issue orders to his men, Akamaru could issue orders to the other dogs independent of their partners as they were all laying down and awaiting orders from Akamaru who wasn't lying around lazily and attacked with a sort of sonic bark that almost his the unsuspecting Demon Lord

"Seriously, that Bane kid would make friends with anything..." Azazel snarks "I understand that he can transform into a wolf and all, but this is a little ridiculous...and too much"

The door opens in time, it was Kakuzu and Sakashime Inuzuka, the one responsible for traininng the Inuzuka dogs as he calmed the dogs "Oy, that's enough...be quiet"

"What are you doing here?" Kakuzu growled under his breath as he looked back inside "Oy, Bane...yer accident prone, so-called Demon Lord buddy's here, get out here"

Bane came out as Azazel panted a bit, he no longer had a reason to go after or anywhere near Taeger ever again now that he possessed his necklace, but Taeger was sure to be after him, especially when he learns of the importance of the item...as long as he knows he posesses it, after all

"Lord Azazel...to what do we owe the visit?" Bane asks as Dartz came out right after him, gasping at the item he now had in his hand "I want this hidden...deeply and at any cost"

"How did you get that?" Dartz asks as Kakuzu tried to stop him "That's not very important, but why you want it hidden so badly is"

"Not ta ye, maybe" Dartz glared at Kakuzu defiantly as he pointed at the item in Azazel's possession "but I know Taeger better than the back of my own hand and he'd quicker give up his life than be apart from that necklace fer even a fraction of a second and ye can't hide it from him, he seems to have weird attachments to it...whoever he finds with it doesn't live to tell tales that even dead men won't tell"

"You seem to know a lot about the dead..." Kakuzu said as Dartz replied "because, in essence I should be one o' them, losin' my immortality wasn't scary...I'd resigned myself to dying for what I want a very, very long time now...knowin' that once yer already six feet under that even death doesn't want ya is what true fear really is"

"I didn't come for a story, dammit...if this is found by who I think is looking for it, Taeger will be the least of your worries" Azazel snarled "...if you think your king of all Ghouls is powerful then you don't want to meet his brother, Zero"

Suddenly a sense of dread filled Kakuzu and the others for no reason, Zero was a name remarked regularly among Ghoul legends and he's not a guy to mess with, being the First Ghoul's opposite, in terms of personality, brother and known to be notorious for not staying dead, given that he's not that easy to kill

"The brother of your king or whatever should not be brought back to life..." Azazel explained as everyone dared not ask why but Dartz who asked anyway "...and why's that?"

"Because he has been killed three times before, if I'm accurate...once by The One, then by the previous incarnation of the Demon Lords, who did it at the cost of their lives and once by the predecessors of your current hierachy of Ghoul Lords, victorious only with the help of the current Demon Lords" Azazel explains

"Stop bein' so vague and get to the point already, mate" Dartz growled, making sure to not let Taeger's necklace out of his sight as Bane put his arm across Dartz' chest when he found the Pirate being drawn closer to Azazel "that trinket...somethin' about knowin' it's in yer possession just irks me, but that should explain you can sense some very bad juju from it"

"You're a real trouble magnet, ya know that, Demon Lord?" Kakuzu snarled as he stared at the time "Bane...it seems that Taeger's the least of your problems now"

"Is it time?" Bane hiccups as Dartz chuckled at him and Kakuzu nodded "Time to escort the Asakuras and Uzushios here...this should be interesting"

Suddenly, as if on cue, Titus opened the door and invited himself in with Zabuza, Aerron and Hiro...they were all going with Bane and Kakuzu, of course Dartz will refuse to let Bane go without him

"Oy, partner...time for yer first mission!" Titus said as he opened the door to reveal the whole gang waiting "Surely, ya haven't forgotten..."

"We should be able to handle this better once the Summit's over and done with..." Kakuzu said "Did you warn the Ghoul Lords of this matter?"

"What do ya take me for, of course I managed to warn those inconsiderate politicians, Kakuzu-sama" Zabuza said "time to show our new partner the ropes!"

Suddenly, Zabuza raised his heavy sword with one arm to block Titus' axe as he replied "you mean my partner..."

"You're tap dancing on the wrong nerve right now...you're well aware of that and what I can do to you even if you're stronger than I am, right?" Zabuza was still salty about losing his sword to Gaki's older brother

"Where is Gaki, anyway?" Bane asks as Titus replied "oh, don't worry about them...you'll see them again soon enough"


The group get set to leave the city, while elsewhere, it seems that Azazel has left Taeger...or what's left of him...to be the Ghoul Lords' problem now

"Where's Ryujin, I wonder?" Birarios asks, clearly concerned that Ryujin may be going down a similar path as his son and Bjorn was pushing him to it without even being aware of it...the Kurosaki Clan was known as folks that had very unpredictable emotions at times and Ryujin, being Ghoul Lord had it even worse...especially now that he may have to kill his son

"What does it matter...we have Kami's ally, soon we will have Kami as well" Bjorn, or more importantly his dark side, Chaos Bjorn said as the others were now becoming aware of the involuntary switch as Briarios kicked Taeger's body over on his back to see the extent of what supposedly killed him "it seems the Demon Lord is doing my work for me...who does he think he is?"

"Hm...he isn't bad looking for a dead man, don't break the merchendise, Chaos...I wouldn't want to have to break you" Tsu Chen said as she carressed Chaos Bjorn's face causing him to give a sadistic smile as while Bjorn regularly scolded her for her sexual advances on any man in his presence, Chaos Bjorn...while barely showing interest in her like she does in him...could care less "You aren't worth Chaos' time and never will be, wench...don't waste your time"

Chaos Bjorn, while being a much darker side of Bjorn's already dark to begin with personality was completely self aware while being under the Ghoul Lord's immense control even if Bjorn isn't the one currently in control of his own body as Chaos Bjorn simply rose Taeger's body into the air as he could still read Taeger's deepest thoughts and darkest desires, even seeing his fight with Azazel and his first fight with Bane through Taeger's own eyes as he smiled evilly, planning to get back at Kami...seeing as the full extent of his power was unknown, despite being far greater than his lesser counterpart, Bjorn Tartaron

"What're you concocting again?" Bartalos asked as Chaos Bjorn shot him a look "Nothing that is of any concern to you..." he quickly teleported away with Taeger

"Since when could he teleport and where's Kurosaki and Lebeau?" Briarios coughed as he tried to keep the dust out of his face as Bartalos replied "Well the guy finds fun in going into other dimensions and having reality itself as his plaything...I'm only assuming that not all the dimensions he can enter are accessible via a portal"

"We still have our work cut out for us...don't forget that" Tsu Chen said as the other Ghoul Lords nodded in agreement and went off in seperate directions


Elsewhere, Ryujin was watching as Bane left the city...

'Be safe out there, Asakura-brat...' Ryujin thought as he finally decides to notice Yang behind him "So...what is he like?"

"He's an ass...he doesn't even take into consideration that I don't even want to be the Clan head" Yang scowled at the very thought of seeing his father again as Ryujin laughed "Why would you not want to be the head of your clan, is it too much hard for ya?"

"I just don't feel ready for that kind of responsibility yet...that's why I idolized Kami for becoming Ghoul Lord..." Yang said as Ryujin berated him "you're a father of one, which is also a big responsibilty and you're running away from your predetermined destiny...huh, how do you expect someone like me - a father of four motherless sons, the Head of a whole Clan o' goddamn, God forsaken cutthroats and a Ghoul Lord with thousands of lives depending on my every decision - to feel, then?"

"I'm sure Tsume has a similar predicament with being the head of her Clan though I doubt she's the strongest member of her clan by a long shot" Ryujin continued as Yang simply stood there with a clenched fist "you both, as his parents, need to set a better example for him if you have any intention of being grandparents and stop grovelling in your self pity...I know I wasn't the best father but I didn't have much choice with her gone...I'll be damned if I allow you to do the same thing!"

Yang looked shocked as he asked "Who's this 'her' you're talking about, Ryujin-sama?" Yang asks as Ryujin looked him for a long moment before smiling "You don't need to know her name now...just know that I would've given my life for hers ten times over, if I had to..."

Ryujin made sure he had a cetain picture with him always, but refused to take it out in Yang's presence as he smirked "I just hope you've made your father proud and hadn't inherited Kami's trait of being a constant failure..." he left Yang with that


A/N - Yang is even less happy about meeting his father again as Bane leaves the city to meet his grandfathers for the first time and a countdown to the Yang vs Idate fight because it's very likely to happen with Yang's mood and Idate's impression of him...R&R!